This was always going to be the first picture on the wall of our place in New Zealand.

We first met Catherine Moullé at an open air art fair in Menerbes in the south of France in June 2003.

We got chatting, it turned out that she’d spent time in NZ and when I asked her if I could photograph her picture, she said “You can buy it if you like..”

Which I did.

We’ve become good friends since then and it’s always a treat to meet up every couple of years when we’re in Aix en Provence. She’s a real sweetie. (And gets stunning reviews for her art classes)

And it’s such a perfect fit for the cottage (which started life 60 years ago as apple-pickers’ accommodation before we did some …ahem… minor modifications and this peninsular has hosted apple orchards since the first European settlements in the 1800s).